It’s been two months since the fall of the Dark Kingdom
and Usagi Tsukino and her friends live without the knowledge of their pasts as
the Sailor Senshi. However, when a pair
of beautiful Aliens arrive on Earth looking to harness the energy of Humans for
their Makai Tree, the Senshi must be restored.
Usagi wanted nothing more than to continue living a peaceful life as a
High School Girl. But now those days
must be put aside for now as the battle for the planet begins again and Usagi,
Rei, Ami, Makoto and Minako reunite once again.
The Pretty Guardian in a Sailor Suit who fights for Love and Justice,
Sailor Moon, has been reborn.
And so it begins.
Welcome Dear Readers to the Gundam Anime Corner 2023 and the start of
another year long event that was promised last Summer 2022.
Over the course of 2023, I’ll be looking at
the remainder of the original Sailor Moon Series, starting today with Season 2
aka Sailor Moon R (the R stands for…Rebirth, I guess?).
While it certainly fell victim to the
trappings of being a longer than needed adaptation which resulted in a lot of
filler, the First Season of Sailor Moon was pretty strong overall, especially
in its high stakes finale.
So, does
Sailor Moon R get off to a good start and carry on the good momentum built up
by the end of Season One?
Sailor Moon R is split into two arcs, the first of which
is an Anime exclusive since the Manga was still ongoing at the time.
The Makai Tree (or Hell Tree as it’s
sometimes translated) and it’s two Guardians, Ail and An are the new baddies on
the block and theyre…ok.
I mean it’s
still too early to say whether or not they surpass Queen Beryl and the forces
of the Dark Kingdom.
Of the two An gets
a bit more screentime as the arc sets her up as Usagi’s rival for Mamoru.
I would say this makes no sense since she’s
clearly romantically attached to Ail but the pair of them seem to pine for
Usagi and Mamoru separately so my guess is everything isn’t as peachy as one
might think with that relationship (and it’s def not because they’ve
infiltrated Usagi’s High School as siblings).
But yeah, An’s back and forth bickering with Usagi is pretty
entertaining, although come on girls, fighting over Mamoru isn’t the best way
to spend your time.
Ail is, well
hopefully he gets something more fun to do than stand around and shout things
and play his flute a little.
He’s the
lesser of the two big bads right now for sure.
Should also point out their Monsters of the Week are called
Cardigans.
An selects one from a deck of
cards held by Ail, who brings them to life.
Theyre still pretty intimidating design wise…but it’s weird the
creatures can only say their own names like theyre Pokemon.
As for our lead heroine, the reset button has been pushed
on Usagi for the most part, both before and after she gets her memories
back.
Usagi’s still the klutz who
oversleeps and would rather chase Mamoru rather than do her homework.
Like I said, how Usagi prioritizes getting
Mamoru’s memories restored so they can be together again over stopping the bad
guys at large feels like we’re starting over from scratch with her.
However, as much as this is supposed to be a
light hearted and fun show, the moments where Usagi shows her maturity are some
of the best of the premiere.
First
there’s the moment when she does get her memories back and internally begs not
to remember.
Usagi went through a lot in
Season One and the ending saw her lose her love and her best friends before the
Dark Kingdom was finally taken down.
That would take a toll on anyone and I was surprised to see Usagi’s panic
that not only would she have to remember that painful finale but also accept
that its time to return to the fight.
The other moment is when Usagi shows actual leadership when she orders
Jupiter to stay out of a fight because she gave blood earlier in the episode.
Moments like that show not just how considerate
Usagi is of those closest to her but also her strength and surprising wisdom as
Leader of the Senshi.
We couldve used a
bit more of this instead of Usagi blowing off a team meeting to try and get
Mamoru to remember her.
Ugh, Mamoru is still a thing isn’t he.
I didn’t hold back my distaste for the guy in
Season One and don’t think that’s gonna stop going forward, mostly because he
makes it too easy to despise him.
Everyone
loves a bad boy but there’s a difference between a cool guy Gundam Pilot like
Duo Maxwell from Gundam Wing…and Mamoru.
The former is a funny guy with a wicked sense of humor who will treat
you with respect.
The other is a douche
who belittles and acts smug and superior and DATES UNDERAGE GIRLS!!!!
Honestly, Usagi needs a better love interest,
one who isn’t a total jerk.
However, as
much as I hate Mamoru and don’t want him to hook back up with Usagi, Usagi’s
drawings of their history are pretty hilarious and surprisingly well drawn for
Usagi.
Plus, there’s a new Mamoru mystery.
He might not have his memories restored but
there is a Tuxedo Mask look alike running around called Moonlight Knight.
Frankly, MK (ill shorthand it) is a bit of an
upgrade with a cooler Arabian Knights look complete with a dagger that is way
more OP than any dagger should be.
Oh
and he and Mamoru both show up in the same room together soooooo does that mean
he isn’t Mamoru?
I doubt that.
Their mannerisms are too similar and it’s
Mamoru, of course he has to be connected to this guy who Usagi is not
infatuated with somehow.
Cant wait to
see how this explains itself.
Well after lobbing plenty of complaints towards the main
couple of this show, how do the rest of the Senshi fare in the premiere?
To be blunt: theyre more bad ass than
ever.
Even before they get their powers
back, the girls haven’t lost their desire to protect those in need. Rei and
Mako stand up to one of Ail and An’s Cardigans sans powers and actually do a
decent job.
Mako got a pretty good episode
involving her wanting to protect a childhood friend who was injured by a pink
Rule 34 femme version of Kimba the White Lion.
While you could scratch your head at the sudden and quick backstory for
a guy who kind of comes out of nowhere, Mako’s emotional recounting of how they
met is very well done.
This is all
courtesy of fantastic voice work from her English Voice Actress, Amanda C.
Miller, she really sells it and gives a strong performance through the whole
episode.
Plus Jupiter gets to kill a
Monster for once.
Actually, she partakes
in two Cardigan takedowns, the second alongside Venus.
I hope we get to see more of the girls taking
down Monsters without the need to give the final killing blow to Usagi.
Ami is still fun trying to keep Usagi focused
on her studies and determined not to give her (or Mako) the answers to an
exam.
And Minako…is kind of still just
there.
Yeah Sailor Moon R really needs
to work on making the fifth Sailor Senshi feel less like a Fifth Wheel for me
because she’s still just around without much to stand on her own with beyond
her character design.
As far as premieres go, Sailor Moon R starts off
alright.
While this filler will probably
go on longer than it needs to, the Makai Tree Arc is a nice way to ease viewers
back into Usagi’s world, even if Usagi herself feels like she’s got a hard case
of the Reset Button.
I like that Rei,
Ami, Minako and especially Makoto got to show they don’t necessarily need
Sailor Moons finishing move to win the day and I’m hoping for more episodes
like the one centered on Makoto to help build up their histories, stories and
character, especially in Minako’s case.
All in all, not totally the best, but it’s nice to have Sailor Moon back
on the Gundam Anime Corner.
Check back
for more Sailor Moon R on Friday, see ya then.
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